Squirmy the Twiddle Worm by Nuby Review

Disclosure: I am a Nuby Mommy Blogger.  I work with Nuby to review their products.  I have received the Nuby Squirmy the Twiddle Worm in exchange for an honest review.  The opinions are 100% my own and may differ from yours.

Mine!  You aren't going to take my Twiddle Worm, are you?  Squirmy is great. He can be twist and turned in all different positions exposing different surfaces for my teething 5 month old.

Nugget loved the feet, he loves to chew on his feet as well so this made sense.

Squirmy twist and turns to help develop your baby's hand eye coordinating.  Its shape makes it very easy to grasp and colors definitely catch the eye of Nugget. 

Squirmy the Twiddle Worm can be purchases at Kohls.com, Babymallonline.com, Netkidswear.com, and Amazon.com.

Disclosure: I am a Nuby Mommy Blogger.  I work with Nuby to review their products.  I have received the Nuby Squirmy the Twiddle Worm in exchange for an honest review.  The opinions are 100% my own and may differ from yours.

Nuby Bug-a-Loop Review

Disclosure: I am a Nuby Mommy Blogger.  I work with Nuby to review their products.  I have received the Nuby Jiggle Giggle in exchange for an honest review.  The opinions are 100% my own and may differ from yours.

How many toys does one child need?  Well mine apparently needs millions.  He loves to just be swimming in lots of things to grab and play with.  Nugget, at 5 months old, is in the early stages of teething.  He is also just mastering grasping objects.  This makes the Bug-a-Loop by Nuby the perfect toy/teether for my little man.

The circle design of the Bug-a-Loop makes it perfect for little hands to grab.  Nugget has been known to throw it over his arm and just keep it there while playing with other things, then he remembers it is there and gets all excited.  Feet, legs and arms all work to manipulate the circle up to Nugget's hands.

The Bug-a-Loop has plenty of different textured surfaces to provide fun and relief for your teething baby.   The different surfaces assist in the eruption of teeth by gently massaging your baby's gums.   The bugs are cute and bright to capture the attention of your little one, making this toy a simple, yet entertaining addition to your baby's stash.

Want to pick up a Bug-a-Loop?  You're in luck! They are sold at several stores: buybabydirect.com, kohls.com, diapers.com, yoyo.com, cvs.com, amazon.com, babyhaven.com, target.com, echildstore.com, babymallonline.com, kidslandusa.com, Blain's Farm & Fleet, buy buy Baby, and Sears.

Disclosure: I am a Nuby Mommy Blogger.  I work with Nuby to review their products.  I have received the Nuby Jiggle Giggle in exchange for an honest review.  The opinions are 100% my own and may differ from yours.

Triple Bloggers' Treat

Welcome to the Triple Bloggers’ Treat Cash Giveaway!  

Seriously, who doesn't need more cash? With summer in full swing, you can put this towards a vacation of a new pair of shades...whatever you like!

My Jordanian Nugget has teamed up with a group of fabulous bloggers to give our readers a chance to win $150!

This Giveaway will run for four weeks giving you plenty of time to complete the entries, remember that the more entries you do, the more chances of winning.

We have lots  of daily entries for you to take advantage of as well, so don’t forget to bookmark this giveaway and come back everyday!

Enter via Rafflecopter below:

This giveaway is co-hosted by the following:

| Financial Update |  Share the Beach  |  Misundershoed | Able Traveller | Math Made Easy |

|  Reflexions of a Personal Trainer | Success Powered | Healthy Vain | Sunny Tales |

| Moving Forward Moments  | Nationwide Consumer Debit Relief |  Finance Blog News  |

Giveaway is open worldwide and ends August 15th  at 11:59 PM EST. Have fun!

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You know you are obsessed with cloth diapers when...

15.  You know what a AIO, AI2, Hybrid, Fitted, Prefold and Pocket are, and you have a preference.

14.  Your husband knows what an AIO, AI2, Hybrid, Fitted, Prefold and Pocket are and has his own preference.

13.  You have become a cloth diaper pusher....someone mentions they have a leak or use disposables and you immediately have a response on how to fix their "problem"

12.  You have bought a manly print diaper "for your husband" but he probably doesn't even know you have it.

11.  You are very familiar with B/S/T and don't find it weird at all to use used cloth diapers.

10.  You hunt down all colors of your favorite diaper to make them look nice when you put them away.

9. When other are excited about a sunny day for outdoor activities, you are excited to sun your diapers...and to hang them on the line outside to show them off.

8.  You tell everyone about the "savings" from cloth, but would never disclose what you have actually spent on your stash

7.  You have multiple pictures of your perfectly folded cloth diapers on your phone because you are just so proud of them.

6. Your baby's clothes are in a pile, but the diapers are perfectly put away.

5.  Your baby owns mostly T-Shirts because you want to show off their cute dipes, but you tell everyone that he just grows out of the onesies to quickly.

4. Laundry has become theraputic because you love to organize your diapers... or maybe that is  You know you have OCD when...

3. The thought of potty training really upsets you, but you don't hesitate to tell everyone that cloth will help you baby potty train sooner, be it true or not.

2. Your nightly reads include The Cloth Diaper Swap, Goodmama Fan Chatter, and various B/S/T groups.

1.  You have left the Cloth Diaper Swap on Facebook multiple times because it is such a time and money suck, only to return shortly after.

Add your own in the comments!

My husband stays at home, Don't feel bad for me

I hired Nugget so he could earn his keep : )

There were a couple of things that Dufda and I knew from the moment we got married.  We would have children.  One of us would stay home with that child.

Growing up, Dufda and I both had a stay at home parent so for me there was no other option.  Specially with day care cost like they are, it just wouldn't be worth it for both of us to work.  When the time came around to deciding who would work, I won...err loss...that one.  I would be taking a maternity leave and going back while Dufda cares for the new baby.  

Maternity leave...I remember people told me it wasn't a vacation.  I tend to highly disagree.  I feel like I never stopped working while I was in college and after I had a really demanding job.  Vacations to actual places are very stressful for me so I always feel like I need a vacation after the actual vacation.  Staying home for three months... I think this was in my dreams a couple of times.  Actually, this was my dream.  From a very young age I wanted to be a mom.  I wanted children early, I wanted to tend house all day and wear an apron while I cook dinner, I wanted to have a baby on my hip, standing on the porch waiting for my husband to come home.  I wanted to be a full time stay home wife.  So maybe I romanticized it, but I got to live out this dream for three months.  I met with other moms, we walked the mall, I visited Target far to much, and I rarely cleaned.  I rarely cleaned because I wasn't a stay at home mom and I was not going to waste the precious days of my babies life cleaning when I knew that I would going back to work very soon.

May 27th, 2013 was the day.  I had to go interact with the real world.  My day was no longer dictated by eat, play, sleep.  I was wearing real clothes, I may have even had make up on.  I was also facing all the people that I hadn't seen in 3 months.  Delivery men, mail lady, my employees.  They are all curious.  They all asked who was taking care of Nugget.  Me, feeling like we have accomplished something, proudly told them that my husband was a stay at home dad.  I thought their reaction would be that of...you know, I guess I never thought about how they should react, but I can tell you how they did react.  I was told by several people over the two months since I returned to work that our arrangement will cause one of the following:

• My children will resent me.
• They will like their daddy more
• Your husband won't be as good at that job as you are
• It will take him 7 years to finally get a hold of things
• Your children will wonder where you are are
• Breastfeeding doesn't last much longer after you start work

This was shocking.  I bet I wouldn't hear these things if I put my child in daycare.  So here it goes.  My husband stays at home.  Don't for one second feel bad for me.  Dufda's job is far harder than mine and I know because I did it for three months.  When people even mention that staying at home isn't work, they most likely have never stayed home with a child.  It is tiring, exhausting work.  There are days that I feel guilty eating my lunch by myself, because I know that Dufda may not have even been able to eat all.  I don't know if he really thought that he would be the main caregiver but he has stepped up to the plate.  I also know that if we ever do get to switch, I won't have an ungrateful husband who thinks I do nothing all day because he has walked for some time in those shoes.

 Also, when I tell you that he stays home, please do not try to analyze me financial situation and make some statement about how "I must make the big bucks".  People in our culture are hardwired to believe that the woman must stay home and people with one income must be rich.  This isn't true.  There is value to being raised by a parent.  That value was figured in when we made our decision.  Not to mention that this is just rude to ask and so many people bring it up.

Husbands stay home now more than they ever did.  We need to stop stereotyping and making it seems that as a stay at home parent you are any less of a person.  I feel like this is so far away...especially in the U.S where women are still making less than men and thought of as the person who cares for the babies.

Pump, Pump, Pump It Out

Fears of returning to work:

• Leaving my baby with my husband
• Turning into a dairy cow

After I got over the fact that I would be leaving my baby all day because I had to return to work, I started to focus on what I will need to do to feed my baby while I am gone.  Exclusively breastfeeding (EBF) my baby was a huge commitment...pumping all day would be an even bigger commitment and I am determined to make it to at least a year on breast milk alone.  Here is what I have figured out from the two months where I pump the day away and nurse the night away.

Getting the Right Equipment:

I had to wait close to 10 weeks to have my personal pump come in from the insurance.  I went with the Hygeia Enjoye and I have been happy with this so far.  It is super light for transport and the customer service at the company is great.  Before I had that pump, I rented a hospital grade one that worked wonders to get every last drop of milk.  I use a hands free nursing bra every time I pump so I can do other things to pass the time away.

Building up a stash:

Before I returned to work I wanted to have some milk stored for those first couple of days because I had no idea how it would go.  When you EBF it makes it very hard to fit in a pump session but I was able to store up at 50 oz before I went to work.  This caused a lot of stress because this was only about two full days of milk, so if I didn't' respond well to the pump I would have no reserve, but at least we had something to start with.

Creating a system:

What milk do I feed on Monday?  How much do I need to pump and when?  How many bottles should I leave?  How should I freeze the milk?  How long is it good for?  I had so many questions so I will walk you through how I pump everyday.

I started pumping and placing right into storage bags, but I found that it was time consuming to measure out amounts while at work and I was wasting a lot of bags.  I switched over to bottles for storage for less to waste.  Every mornings I pack 4 bottles and 3 lids.  This will change based on if you yield more than what one bottle holds per pump session.  I store these bottles in a personal cooler to avoid having them in the employee fridge.  I just rinse my pump parts in between and really do not stress about sanitizing them...lets be honest, do you sanitize your boob before your baby eats?

My pump schedule is as follows:  I pump right before I leave for work at 8am, I pump at work at 10:30, 1:15 and 3:45 and then my final pump is after Nugget goes to bed at 10 pm.  The way I figured out my work pumping schedule was using a feeding app on my phone to see how often Nugget was eating.  I also could make enough milk with fewer pumps but it is really important to me to maintain my supply so I keep pumping.

Monday feeds:  So I was really confused on where I would get milk for Monday since the day before you wouldn't be pumping all day.  At the beginning I would feed frozen on Monday, which works if you do not want to pump on the weekend.  Now I combine the 10pm pump from Friday, Saturday and Sunday to make Monday's bottles.  This way we only have to pull frozen if I leave unexpectedly, which has never happened.

How much should my baby be eating:  We follow the EBF baby feeding guidelines of 1-1.5 oz per hour of separation.  I leave five 2.5 oz bottles for Dufda to feed, then I will nurse Nugget as soon as I get home. Remember that breast milk changes over time to accommodate your baby.  Just because your baby is getting bigger doesn't mean he needs more milk.

Storing left over milk:  After I prepare bottles for the next day, I freeze any extra milk in increments of 2.5 oz so that we are able to pull out a bag for each bottle that we need.  I freeze them flat so they are easy to organize and then sort them buy date to pull the oldest milk first.

How long is my milk good for:  If you have your milk in the refrigerator, you can go between 3-8 days before you feed it.  You should never reheat breast milk after you have already fed a portion of it.  I usually stick with the 3 day rule because then I know for sure it is good.  The longest would be the Friday milk I feed on Monday.  Storing in the freezer keeps your milk  edible much longer.  As for how long you can freeze for, this will depend on whether you freeze in a deep freezer or your regular freezer.  An important fact is that you should only feed dethawed breast milk within 24 hours of dethawing.

Some additional tips:  When prepping an EBF baby to be bottlefed it is important to make the experience as similar to breastfeeding as possible as to not make him prefer the bottle.  Think about it;  with a bottle your baby doesn't have to wait for a let down, there is a constant stream of liquid coming and the suck in much different.  If Nugget seems to not be feeding as well we switch from a regular nipple to the Calma nipple by Medela and he gets right on track.  

Never forget you breast pads if you leak.  There is nothing more awkward then being at work with two damp circles on your boobs.

I always throw a dish towel in my bag to help with drying of pump parts and keeping any dampness away from my pump.

I stressed over going back to work far more than was needed.  Pumping sucks but I wouldn't have it any other way to make sure that my baby is fed only the best.

Puppy Love

Our Nugget is getting real close to sitting up, which means we are also getting real close to Nugget and our Great Pyrenees, Dolce interacting.  I'm not to worried but I would love some input from my readers.

When we brought Nugget home, Dolce was at my parents.  We picked her up that same day because I didn't want her to miss the new baby.  Flashback three months earlier, we had three dogs.  Two had to be put down because they got ill and were very old.  I had imagined that we would be a family of six, 3 two legged and 3 four legged.  It didn't work out that way, so one should be easy, right?  I laugh now thinking about how I would look wearing Nugget while walking three dogs, people already look at me like I am crazy with one.  We didn't do the typical advice of giving an item that smelled like the baby to the dog because we were only at the birth center for 4 hours.  We just threw caution to the wind and hoped for the best. 

At first Dolce wasn't very interested or excited about Nugget but she definitely knew her life had changed. She was more sad and sort of off for the first couple of weeks.  I couldn't really take her anywhere because it was so cold outside so we were stuck in the house which just added to making her sad.  Near the end of my maternity leave we started to take her to the park more and on longer walks.  She then started to really like the baby.  When Nugget would cry, she would post herself up right next to the crib or bark to let us know that something was wrong.

In regards to Dolce interacting with Nugget now, I let her lick or even nibble on Nugget as long as I am present and he isn't upset.  I don't want Dolce to associate the baby with being yelled at.  Nugget has started to pull on her tail but other than that he just smiles at her.  The other day Dolce gave Nugget a ton of kisses on his face and I was so happy that he didn't freak out. 

We have had a lot of luck with Dolce not grabbing the babies toys and not going around him when he is having floor time.  I hope this continues when Nugget starts sitting up, showing more interest and later becoming mobile.  

I would love for you to share your experience with introducing baby to dog to give me some pointers as I know we have the hardest part ahead of us.

Four Month Update!

Nugget Weighs: 15.8 lbs

He is :28 inches tall...apparently this is taller than all babies by the charts, putting him at 100%.  You can't be taller than all babies....there has to be that one even more freakishly tall baby.

Nugget wears:  Get this!  I just had to go buy 12 month onesies!!  I know that a little of it has to do with his fluffy cloth butt, but still...12 months!!

Nugget's Firsts:  This month was a big month for Nugget!  He slept through the night, but that was just a tease.  Nugs has found his thumb, his feet and learned to grab for things.  He also loves to blow bubbles!  At the end of the month he rolled from tummy to back for the first time!

Nugget's Adventure's this Month:  
Nugget was a guest at two weddings this month.  He was stunning in a faux tuxedo onesie and escorted by his bff...Mr. Froggy.  

Nugget has recently decided that he would like to be more hipster and less Carter's baby, so we took him to explore the Pittsburgh Art's Festival.  He met plenty of other stylin' babies and plans to do work with them when they enter preschool.

Since the weather has finally warmed up to a nice balmy 90 degrees here in Pittsburgh, Nugget has taken him first leap into the pool.  He is no Michael Phelps...yet.  Nugget plans to enroll in swim classes with his friends to improve his skills and one day win Olympic Gold.

Nugget attended his first Pittsburgh Baby conference where very important matters were discussed.  They have established hierarchy within the group based on who has the most hair. Jad has lost the top ranking seed to his friend Noah, but still has time to catch up.   Nugget met lots of new babies at the conference and plans to have them all over for milk and...more milk ( I hear someone is sneaking in the pureed avocado and peas).   There was even a meeting of the nations when the Jad, the sole Jordanian at the conference signed a peace treaty with Declan, the only Asian, agreeing to share cookies when there parents let them start solids, strategy to get solids sooner will be discussed at the next meeting. The gathering was cut short when someone had a poopsplosion ....Jad turned to Kellan and said, "Man, if he was in cloth we would never have these issues...parents."